1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to teaching aids, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for training human memory processes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of flash cards as a training aid in the early stages of schooling has been known in the past, exemplified by flash cards designed to evoke certain sound patterns corresponding to the letters of the alphabet, word flash cards to promote correct spelling, numerical flash cards to memorize multiplication table, and so on. The association of flash cards with our learning processes is therefore well established. To further enhance interest and thus the efficacy of the learning process various methods and structures have been devised which combine flash cards in a game sequence such as the card games for learning the alphabet described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,276,940 to White, 5,524,899 to Haqedorn, 5,906,492 to Putterman and others. In each instance the flash card is used to indicate, and reinforce, an association between the characters or symbols on the card and some fact or word. Thus the primary utility of the flash card process is reinforcement of particular mental associations which only collaterally also reinforce the general facility of committing facts to memory.
Those in the art are familiar with the various analogs postulated for the human mind including those models that suggest a self coding process in which logical junctions are effectively formed along the path of conduction associated with a favored response. With repetition this analogical process refines and enlarges the number of junctions and thus refines the record of the information stored. This model, however, is best associated with logical organization and retention of information, or learning, and not with the speed at which such retention is effected, i.e., one mental attribute while most current thinking recognizes two central attributes of the physical brain in which the first, referred to above, is related to the quantity of material available for creating the junctions while the second relates to the efficiency of the junction forming process. Amongst these two functions the prior art flash card techniques favor the first, the junction forming process which is then further granulated and refined by the perceived logical nature of the association and even the architecture of the storage process itself, e.g., the architecture of speech. The second attribute related to the general facility with which junctions are formed has had little attention in the prior art.
The working or short term memory of a human brain entails processes that are often associated with one""s state of health, age and mental well-being. Idioms and homilies like xe2x80x98senior momentxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98absent-minded professorxe2x80x99 and the like amply summarize the general observation that this part of one""s mental faculties is subject to deterioration. Of course, the observations that have led to these general conclusions appear to be based on correct scientific underpinnings as recently supported in the separate works of Drs. Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard and Eric Kandel for which they shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. In essence Drs. Carlsson and Greengard found the chemical nature of all mental processes while Dr. Kandel confirmed this in his work focusing on heightened short term or working memory persistence that can be obtained through stress sensitization. The works of Drs. Carlsson and Greengard are now fully confirmed by the introduction of drugs like Prozac and L-dopa which the brain effectively converts to serotonin and dopamine. Dr. Kandel""s work then carried further Dr. Greengard""s phosphorylation deductions as the molecular basis for short term memory.
Thus there is now substantial confirmation of the junction analog for long term memory model of the human brain and the associative exercises of the current flash card teaching aids are well supported. Short term, or working, memory enhancement, however, has had little attention in the prior art and it is one such enhancement process that is described herein.
Accordingly, it is the general purpose and object of the present invention to provide a flash card memory exercise process in which the flash card images have no logical associative symbolism.
Other objects of the invention are to provide a short term or working memory exercise method in which various features of a plurality of flash cards are combined with flash card symbols having no logical association are combined and permutated to produce a large combinatorial result from any randomizing process like card shuffling.
Yet further objects of the invention are to provide an inexpensive array of devices useful in effecting a short term memory training method.
Additional objects of the invention are to provide a short term memory training method which is enhanced in its effects by the stress enhancing aspects of a contest.
Briefly, these and other objects are accomplished within the present invention by providing a set of flash cards each of a planform identical to the others and each of dimensions convenient for manual shuffling. One face of each flash card is then inscribed with a plurality of symbols randomly selected from a symbol set that includes a subset of vertically symmetrical symbols and a further subset that are not symmetrical. For example symbols that approximate the shape of the letter X or Z are vertically symmetrical as are symbols in the shape of a circle, a diamond or a square. Symbols following the shape of the letter W, however, are not and therefore are identified as an M or W depending on the orientation of the flash card as it is displayed. Other geometric symbols like a triangle or a five cornered star that are also vertically asymmetric are also useful within the present invention, providing further combination and permutation variety. Even further variety is obtained by way of randomly selected colors that are used to imprint each of the symbols.
The foregoing symbols may be randomly combined in groups of two, three, four or more symbols on the face of the flash cards which are then shuffled and dealt face up, in groups of two, three or more, into a particular concealment box assigned to corresponding contestants. The dealt cards in each of the concealment box are then exposed for a common first time period to each of the contestants who then have to precisely describe within a second time period each of the cards by way of the symbols thereon, their color, polarity and so on. Points are then awarded to the contestants depending on the number of cards correctly described. In this manner a limited card set can be effectively utilized in the course of many game repetitions to provide the necessary exercise stimulus to the short term or working memory of the contestants. The interval between the first period and the second period can be varied and may be increased as the memory facility of the contestants improves. Thus varying levels of temporal proximity can be tested in a process that is easily implemented and conveniently carried out.